I’m proud to announce that I won round #42 of Travel Photo Roulette, which is a themed contest that’s passed around from blogger to blogger. Below is my winning submission for the ‘evening’ themed contest.
As the winner, it’s my turn to host the next competition. The theme for round #43 of Travel Photo Roulette is, not surprisingly, Adventure.
Contest Overview
The contest moves from blog to blog. The winner of each round hosts the next one (I’m hosting because I won the last round). Each host chooses a theme for their round and entrants may submit photos related that theme for one week. Readers may try to sway the host blogger’s choice by posting comments. The host blogger my ignore, delete, or ridicule comments as they see fit. Actually, this is encouraged, especially after seven or eight margaritas. At the end of the week, the host blogger chooses their favorite photo from the submissions and displays it as the week’s winning entry. The host then passes the contest to the winner, who will host the next round and choose a new theme. The game continues until the Internet implodes, North Korea gains control of the Internet and outlaws tomfoolery, or or skynet destroys the human race, whichever comes first.
Guidelines
- One submission per blog
- Postprocessing is permitted but altering photos (ie. photoshopping in Ryan Gosling rodeo-riding dolphins jumping out of the hotel swimming pool) is not
- Abstract submissions are welcome as long they fit the theme. Remember, the host blogger chooses the winner, so if they don’t understand your ‘art’, you might not win (even if that makes the host blogger a soulless cretin).
- Please optimize your images for the web and submit them at no more than 530px wide.
- When choosing a theme, please do the following:
- Keep phrases general so that all bloggers can participate. Specific items like “Eiffel Tower” should be avoided. It’s better to use open-ended phrases like “monuments.” For variety, it is okay to say focused things such as “monuments at night” which most of us have pictures of. Phrases can be generic ‘signs’, or abstract ‘religion’.
- Abstract ideas are good, but make sure it’s something everyone can understand. Phrases like “Kafka-esque”, “David Lynchonian”, or “Overlooking Creation” sound great in an art history thesis, but might be hard for some of us simple bloggers to understand. Please try to use a phrase that anybody can relate to.
- After 1 year, phrases can be reused, however new photos must be submitted.
- Obscene pictures or phrases are not allowed. Suggestive phrases and photography are acceptable, but please keep them within reason.
- You may submit any photo, no matter how old, as long as you took it.
- Most importantly, ALL PHOTOS MUST BE YOUR OWN. No trolling Flickr for winners.
- This is a competition for bloggers, therefore you must be a blogger to be declared a winner.
How to submit your entries
It’s easy. Just leave comment below with a link your photo and caption. I will add it to this post. Please provide a brief description or caption so that viewers can get a little background as to what’s happening. Check back here throughout the week to see all the entries as they come in and feel free to comment on them. The contest runs for 7 days from today, with the submission date being May 17th, 2012 – May 24th, 2012 11.59pm GMT (Wednesday to Wednesday). The winner will be announced in the days after the deadline, and they will host round 44. **Note** Please enter medium-size web-friendly photos max 530px wide. Large pictures slow down servers and increase page load times for everybody.
The Entries
And…(dun du du da) the winners are
Choosing a winner was not easy. Three of the entries definitely stood out for capturing the excitement of the moment. But choosing a winner from those three was not easy. But, here are my choices.
Second Runner Up
Running with bulls by The Rowdy Chowgirl. In the end, I chose to give this fantastic photo third place because, while it captures the excitement of the moment really well, it would be better if it she had used a faster shutter speed to get a sharper image.
First Runner Up
Whitewater rafting by Cole won second place. This is a great picture. You can almost feel the frigid Canadian mountain water smacking you in the face! A great photo that narrowly missed first simply because, while this captures the excitement of rafting perfectly, the first place winner was simply a once-in-a-lifetime moment.
Winner
In the end, there there was only one choice for first place. Swimming with sharks by Travis Ball is not only a well-composed photograph of a shark dive. It really looks like a once-in-a-lifetime moment when everything went better than you could ask. I’m so jealous! Congratulations Travis! You’re up for round #44.
Past Photo Roulette Winners and Hosts
The following is a list of the previously played rounds blog hosts. This list also doubles as a winner’s table because host won the preceding round! Click the links to go directly to winning entries and see some stunning photographs!
1. Nov 4–10, 2010 – Living the Dream – “Animals”
2. Nov 17–24, 2010 – Skinny Backpacker – “Road Signs”
3. Nov 29–Dec 6, 2010 – Dream a Little Dream – “Street Art”
4. Dec 8–15, 2010 – Flashpacker HQ – “Festival”
5. Dec 17–24, 2010 – Over Yonderlust – “Landmarks”
6. Dec 26–Jan 2, 2011 – Don’t Ever Look Back – “Beaches”
7. Jan 5–12, 2011 – ThePlanetD – “Portraits”
8. Jan 15–22, 2011 – Travel with a Mate – “Motion”
9. Jan 26–Feb 3, 2011 – Johnny Vagabond – “Water”
10. Feb 8–15, 2011 – Ken Kaminesky – “Urban”
11. Feb 21–27, 2011 – Travels of Adam – “Friday Night”
12. Mar 7–13, 2011 – Itchy Feet Chronicles – “The Journey”
13. Mar 19– 25, 2011 – Brendan’s Adventures – “Changing Seasons”
14. Apr 4–10, 2011 – Shutterfeet – “Storytelling”
15. Apr 13–21, 2011 – 10 Times One – “Piousness”
16. Apr 26–May 4, 2011 – Beached Eskimo – “Learning”
17. May 21–27, 2011 – Travel Junkies – “Architecture”
18. Jun 1–7, 2011 – Destination World – “Transportation”
19. Jun 8–15, 2011 – Living the Dream – “Paradise”
20. Jun 21-28, 2011 – Vagabond Quest – “Clothes”
21. Jul 4-11, 2011 – The Unframed World – “Symmetry”
22. Jul 16-25, 2011 – Beached Eskimo – “Home”
23. Jul 31 – Aug 7, 2011 – BackPackerBanter – “Inspiration”
24. Aug 14 – 21, 2011 – WanderingTrader – “Darkness”
25. Aug 28 – Sep 4, 2011 – Finding the Universe – “Tranquillity”
26. Sep 12 – 19, 2011 – Fearful Adventurer – “Food”
27. Sep 23 – 30, 2011 – Adventures of a GoodMan – “City”
28. Oct 06 – 13, 2011 – Globe-Trekking.com – “Reflections”
29. Oct 17 – 24, 2011 – Scene With A Hart – ”Framing”
30. Nov 9 – 16, 2011 – Vagabond Quest – “Silhouettes”
31. Nov 26 – Dec 3, 2011 – Hecktic Travels – “Music”
32. Dec 11 – Dec 18, 2011 – Globetrotter Girls – “Love”
33. Dec 25 – Jan 1st, 2012– Man on the lam – “Humor”
34. January 8 – Jan 15 – My Walkabout – “Winter”
35. Jan 15 – Jan 22 – The Art of Slow Travel – “Blue”
36. Feb 6 – Feb 13 – Ten Times One – “Depth of Field”
37. Feb 22 – Feb 29 – Runaway Juno – “My Glorious Digital Nomad Moment”
38. March 7 – March 14 – Nomadbiba – “Sunshine”
39. March 24 – 31 – Travel With Kat – “Local Character”
40. April 10th – 16th – The Travel Bunny – “Street Scene”
41. April 23rd – April 30th – Adventure Crow – “Spirit of the Country”
42. May 7th – May 14th – Food Travel Bliss – “Evening”